Mariano Rivera believes he will be ready to close for the Yankees on Opening Day

Mariano Rivera is confident he will be ready for the Yankees come Opening DaySL

Mariano Rivera said today that he'll be ready to take the ball on Opening Day.

Rivera spoke to reporters at Yankee Stadium Wednesday at the team's holiday food drive. The 43-year old closer, recovering from surgery to repair a tear in his right anterior cruciate ligament suffered on May 3 in Kansas City, declared he will be ready for the Yanks' regular-season opener against the Red Sox on April 1 in the Bronx.

"I don't see why not," Rivera said. "We have at least three months, four months to that point. I'll be ready. My arm is good. Everything else feels good, so I will start throwing the baseball pretty soon."

Rivera signed a one-year, $10 million contract several weeks ago after briefly waffling over whether or not he would return. The all-time saves leader circled back to his original declaration that he did not want to end his career on what happened in Kansas City. His manager Joe Girardi had pointed out how hard Rivera had been working during the season, and felt confident he'd once again have his ninth-inning specialist, who will be looking to add to his career total of 608 saves.

"I don't want to give you a number (of saves), I don't want to speculate,"Rivera said. "But I'm feeling good," Rivera said. "The leg is getting stronger and stronger, and that's it. You have to give it time. I am doing my part, and time is doing its part."

Rivera also commented on the Yankees decision to sign Kevin Youkilis.

"One thing I know," Rivera said, "is the guy plays hard. All these years that we competed against him, the guy always gives you the best. And that's what you want for any player."

Ichiro update: The Yankees continued their contract discussions with Ichiro Suzuki, which are expected to be resolved by the end of the week. Three scenarios are being discussed: a one-year deal; a one-year deal with a vesting option for a second year that will kick in if he reaches certain incentives; and a two-year deal.

The idea of a two-year deal is being discussed with the thought being that Ichiro could join Derek Jeter as the second player to reach the 3,000-hit mark in a Yankee uniform.

Ichiro, who hit .322 in 67 games for the Yankees last season, needs 394 hits to reach 3,000. He had 178 hits last season in 162 games, the lowest single-season total in his 12-year major league career.

Payroll plunge: The Dodgers are on track to become only the second major league team with a $200 million payroll and could end the Yankees’ streak of 14 years as baseball’s biggest spender.

The Dodgers are at $214.8 million for 21 signed players next season, according to a study of their contracts by the Associated Press. That follows last weekend’s additions of free agent pitcher Zack Greinke for a $147 million, six-year contract and South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin for a $36 million, six-year deal.